Before the 2025 PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler’s driver had failed testing and was deemed to be non-conforming. He had to resort to his backup, but he did have an interesting observation. The World No.1 stated, “I would argue that if we’re going to test the drivers, we need to be even more robust in the way we test them. That was a conversation I had with one of the rules officials; if it’s something we’re going to take seriously, I feel like we’re almost going halfway with it right now. If we’re going to test only a third of the field. If we’re going to do it right, leave it up to us as players, like the rest of the rules in the game of golf are.” 

Lucas Glover had recently appeared on his Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio Show and dropped a bombshell of news. The American golfer stated vehemently, “I’ve been trying to think all morning and all day how to say this without sounding like it’s going to sound, but most guys don’t give them their real driver, anyway. They give them their backup just in case.” That is a hard accusation to make, and considering Glover is very well entwined with the players’ community, it is also seemingly coming from a place of knowing.”

The American golfer stated, “I know a lot of guys [who] keep two drivers in their bag just in case. ‘Hey, oh, yeah, it’s this one. It’s this one right here. Yeah, do this, test this one.’ We’ve got LIV guys, we’ve got other tour guys, we’ve got tons of different players and tours being represented at the four biggest tournaments of the year. So why doesn’t everybody get tested at every major? And why don’t we somehow try to make sure it’s the driver being used? If that costs ‘X’ amount of dollars, great. Let’s do it. All these organizations have got plenty. Look at the tents they build every week,” Glover further added, driving his point.

If the 2009 U.S. Open Winner’s accusations are true, then it represents another layer of scrutiny and care that the USGA needs to maintain while testing the drivers’ conformity. It also represents something wrong with the current system that had outed Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler previously. The former had especially caught the raw end of the deal. When McIlroy’s driver was found non-conforming at the PGA Championship, forcing him to switch to his backup, his performance faltered.

Immediately, social media was littered with comments and tweets about the legitimacy of his 2025 Masters win, with several people questioning whether he achieved it by using a non-conforming driver to help him gain an unfair advantage. McIlroy has not yet spoken to the media post the testing, which has not made his case look good. The 5-time Major champion will have every right to feel aggrieved after Lucas Glover’s comments, especially considering how several players are supposedly dodging the testing through nefarious means.

Two-time Major winner Collin Morikawa also had an interesting perspective on Lucas Glover’s comments. Speaking to the press ahead of the Memorial Tournament, he was very candid when asked about the players giving their backups for testing: “I sure hope not. I mean, I’m sure someone has done it. People joke about doing it, but I don’t think anyone actually does. All our clubs have lifespans on them. We know it. And like my SIM driver that I played for like three and a half years, somehow never failed — I was going to say never passed — never failed. But like I said, it’s just, the amount of shots people hit, the reps you take, you keep hitting it in the center, they have lifespans. So I don’t think people do that. I think people joke about it, but I don’t think people do it.” 

Morikawa’s statements are very clear. The cons of cheating the driving test far outweigh the pros, and that chance is something that does not make sense for professional golfers. The former World No.2 explained, “And if they do, then, I mean, sure. Is it going to help? I don’t think it’s going to help. When these fail, we’re on such fine margins that they give us this like green, yellow, red. Like we want our drivers to be in yellow, it’s passing, but it’s like you want it to be fast, you don’t want it to be slow. But if it’s close to failing or if it’s failing and it’s close to cracking, I mean, what are you gaining? You’re not gaining anything. Guys aren’t going to hit it 25 yards further. I don’t think it’s really changing much. It’s just you got to have a line somewhere, and that’s where they have drawn the line.”

Morikawa’s comments do provide a sense of calm to the whole affair. And combine that with the USGA’s comments about policing cheating when it comes to testing, it is safe to say that Lucas Glover’s comments right now do not hold any merit.

USGA Chief rubbishes cheating allegations during testing

“90 per cent of the drivers that were given to us in those practice facilities when we test are played on the first tee, and we expect 10 per cent of players to be making changes anyway,” Chief Executive of the USGA Mike Whan said ahead of the U.S. Women’s Open. He was adamant that they are very particular about the driver they are testing, stating that they track the serial number of the clubs they are testing in order to ensure no misses happen.

He also explained that for them, testing is a very normal process. It happens more often than is generally reported. The only reason the testing at the PGA Championship was blown out of proportion was the incident that transpired with Rory McIlroy and the furore that happened on social media because of it.

“I don’t think that’s a real concern for us. The biggest thing is we try to keep the whole testing process kind of low-key because players know it’s coming. They see us coming. They give us the driver if we tell them. It seemed like a big week to everybody else, but for us it was a pretty standard week,“ Whan continued.

What do you think of Morikawa’s and Glover’s statements regarding the testing process? Should the USGA be more prompt and prevent any mishaps during testing?